


Overheated

by JellybeanSweet



Category: GOT7
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Sick Character, Sickfic, a lot of love, bts makes an appearance, little to no editing, sick yugyeom, soft yugyeom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:28:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22120315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JellybeanSweet/pseuds/JellybeanSweet
Summary: With the MAMAs coming up all too soon, Yugyeom has no time to be tired or worn-out. Despite the quickly approaching performance, and additional schedules that come with it, the maknae gets sick.
Relationships: BamBam & Choi Youngjae & Im Jaebum & Kim Yugyeom & Park Jinyoung & Mark Tuan & Jackson Wang, BamBam/Choi Youngjae/Im Jaebum/Kim Yugyeom/Park Jinyoung/Mark Tuan/Jackson Wang, Kim Yugyeom & Everyone, Kim Yugyeom/Everyone
Comments: 4
Kudos: 278





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was basically me spewing my need for angst into a doc and then being like 'yeah I guess I'll post it'. Also, I started writing it before Yugyeomie actually got sick at the end of 2019/beginning of 2020, so like no relation to that at all. 
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!

The moment Yugyeom pried open his eyes, he knew he was sick. The way his eyes just wouldn’t open any further, the way the light coming in hurt his hardly open eyes, the way he felt way too hot but knew he’d only fallen asleep in boxers and a short sleeved shirt, the way he ached in places he knew he shouldn’t be quite that sore in; it spelled out sick perfectly.

He grumbled and turned over, hand reaching out to grab for his phone on the nearby beside table. He managed to find it and flipped it so it would show him the time. He let out a suffering sigh and practically chucked his phone back onto the table. Six was too early for him to be awake, and yet here he was. He still had about an hour before he needed to get up. The schedule for the day wasn’t packed, but they began their photo shoot a little after nine and it was about a half hour drive, so he had plenty of time.

Yugyeom closed his eyes and pushed himself deeper under his covers, his arms wrapping around his pillows. He groaned softly at how his body had begun to ache and he shifted again.

Finally he settled, breaths evening out to a soft, slow pace. He was asleep within moments.

——

“Yugyeom? Yugyeomie? Tch, wake up, Yugyeom,” a loud voice came filtering through the quiet air.

Yugyeom groaned. 

“Come on, get up, we have to leave in, like, 20 minutes.” 

Yugyeom didn’t respond.

“Yugyeom!” 

Finally he blinked open his eyes to see Jackson hovering above him. He groaned and covered his eyes, moving to roll over but Jackson caught his shoulder and kept him on his back.

“Yugyeom, you’ve gotta get up,” Jackson tried again, his tone more serious this time. Usually, at this point, Yugyeom would get up. He’d grumble and whine occasionally, but he would at least sit up and swing his legs off the leg. When he didn’t, Jackson figured something must be off. His first instinct was to check if the younger was sick.

Jackson raised a hand to Yugyeom’s forehead and it gave him the answer he was looking for; the boy was warm. 

“Are you feeling sick?” Jackson asked, brushing Yugyeom’s hair off of his forehead. 

“A little,” the younger finally spoke. “I guess I do feel a little warm.” He coughed, turning to cover his mouth quickly.

“I’m going to grab Jinyoung and a thermometer and I’ll be right back, okay?” the Chinese man murmured, wiping a little bit of sweat from the Korean man’s face.

Yugyeom gave a nod and watched him hurry out of the room. 

Jackson walked back in with Jinyoung behind him. He turned on the thermometer and slid it into Yugyeom’s mouth as Jinyoung sat down on his bed.

Jinyoung put his hand on the youngest’s forehead and hummed. He seemed much like the parent of their relationship that he really was. 

“You’re right, he does feel warm,” he confirmed before he turned to face the man laying in bed. “Do you feel sick? Any stomach cramps, nausea, chills?”

“I know I’m sweating, but I feel a little cold,” he murmured. “But that’s mostly it. Kinda coughin’, I guess.”

Jinyoung nodded. 

The thermometer beeped and Jackson pulled it out of Yugyeom’s mouth.

“Hmm. He is running a fever, but not too high, just 100.2 degrees,” Jackson read off the thermometer, setting it off to the side for the moment. 

“Do you think you could make it through the day?” Jinyoung whispered softly as he rubbed Yugyeom’s arm. “We have the MAMAs in just a few days and our managers are on top of us about practicing and publicity with shoots and VLives. It would be hard on you if you missed anything important.”

“I think I’ll be okay,” Yugyeom replied. He pushed himself into a sitting position, sheets slipping off of him. He shuddered from the cold. “I’m just a little warm. If anything gets worse, I’ll let you know. I don’t really want to be sick during the MAMAs, so resting now, or rather, not going overboard now, will help me in a few days.”

Jinyoung gave him a soft smile and nodded.

“I’ll go tell the others what’s up with Gyeom if you want to help him get ready,” Jackson offered.

Jinyoung agreed easily and Jackson ruffled the maknae’s hair before leaving the room. Jinyoung turned towards his youngest boyfriend and helped him up and out of bed. He handed him a pair of black jeans, a solid gray shirt, and a soft navy blue sweater.

“The sweater should keep you pretty warm,” Jinyoung commented as he handed it over. He then went to grab a pair of long socks to hide under black boots to keep Yugyeom even warmer. 

The younger took everything given to him and changed. 

Jinyoung offered him a silver stud earring and a long, dangly, silver chain connected to a heart to go on the other side; he hummed in approval when Yugyeom finally had the whole outfit on. 

“You’re comfortable? Warm?” the older man asked as he adjusted Yugyeom’s sweater, brushing off dust that wasn't really there.

Yugyeom nodded and made a ‘mmhmm’ noise; he followed Jinyoung out of the room and into the bathroom. Jinyoung filled him a glass of water and handed him a pill to reduce his fever before once again pulling him out of a room and heading towards the kitchen.

“Even if you’re not hungry, you should at least eat something,” Jinyoung stated, letting go of Yugyeom to flutter around the kitchen. Yugyeom watched him go back and forth between the stove and the cupboard from where he sat at the table. He coughed into his arm; he rubbed his throat after.

Jinyoung returned a few minutes later with another glass of water before he resumed cooking. 

BamBam slid into the kitchen on his socks; he pushed off again and slid towards Yugyeom, hugging him around the back of the chair in an uncomfortable position. 

“Jackson-hyung said you were sick,” the Thai man pouted. “Why didn’t you wake me up to help you?”

Yugyeom laughed; “You would have told me to fix it myself and then you would have gone right back to bed,” he teased, sticking his tongue out at the older. BamBam just stuck his tongue out back.

BamBam sat down in a chair and began scrolling through his phone.

JB walked into the kitchen, heading for Jinyoung. The two of them spoke too quiet for either of the youngest members to head.

Youngjae came only moments later, slipping into the kitchen with Jinyoung and JB before going to the table with his own glass of water. He sat down and started up a conversation with BamBam.

Finally Jackson and Mark emerged in the doorway. Mark was still kind of asleep, eyes droopy as he supported himself on Jackson’s shoulder. He grumbled something and slipped into the kitchen to grab coffee as Jackson joined the other three at the table.

Eventually Mark came to sit down as well, closing his eyes and laying his head back down on the Chinese rapper’s shoulder while his drink cooled down.

While the whole of Got7 was in a loving relationship with every other member, it was no secret that Jackson and Mark were always connected, no matter the context.

A couple minutes of light conversation passed and JB and Jinyoung finished cooking whatever Jinyoung had started. They spread out bowls and chopsticks for everyone and they began to dig in, but Jinyoung only gave Yugyeom a small plate, which he was grateful for.

“Try to finish what you take, I don’t want you on those fever reducers without something in your stomach,” Jinyoung told the youngest as he sat down. Yugyeom nodded in understanding and took about half of what he thought he could eat; he made the right decision when he was nearly finished and he felt his stomach churn. He simply put his chopsticks down and drained the glass of water, and instantly it settled. He didn’t take any more after that, content with watching the others eat and finish up.

“Let’s clean up and then we can head to the car. Our manager said he’s a couple minutes away,” JB announces as he stood from his seat.

Once the table and the kitchen were clean, everyone headed to the front of the building to get into the van. 

“Let Yugyeom sit up front,” JB ordered. “If he gets sick, he’ll be able to get out quickly.”

The members piled into the back of the van while the youngest slipped into the front next to their manager. He settled against the seat and closed his eyes, just breathing. For most of the drive the youngest was either half asleep or scrolling through his phone, ignoring the noise behind him. Occasionally he would begin coughing, but he’d drained the water bottle about halfway through their trip.

They arrived on the set of their photo shoot on time; they piled out of the van and into the building to get makeup and hair done.

Yugyeom slumped into the chair, head tilted up slightly so the woman doing his makeup could actually do it. He was sweating a little, so she had to layer on a bit more foundation when it came off, but otherwise no complications came from his slight sickness. He managed to control his already minimal coughing.

He got his hair done next, just brushing through it and styling it naturally. The woman doing his hair spent a little extra time framing his face before quickly going back to the makeup and powering his face again to try and rid his face of the shine it got after sweating from the heat of the flat irons and curling irons being used for the others. She let him go after a couple more minutes, rushing off to probably help someone else with another members face.

“Okay,” their manager said, clapping his hands together once all the members were finished getting ready. “Let’s begin.” He turned to face the staff members before speaking once more. “Just so everyone is aware, Yugyeom-ah is a slightly ill today, so please keep in mind that he is not at 100% right now.”

They began the shoot with individual shots in the few different sets. They made sure to keep Yugyeom to the simple bedroom set where he could stay either laying down or sitting against the headboard.

Eventually they got to the group shots. Everyone joined Yugyeom on the bed. 

Yugyeom was laying in the middle, head on a pillow. JB slipped down next to him, gently turning him so he was curled into his chest. Jackson pushed them over so Yugyeom was closer to the side and then laid his head on JB’s stomach. Mark laid down on Jackson’s thigh, letting JB’s leg rest on top of his back since the eldest was lying on his stomach. Jinyoung sat next to Yugyeom’s back; his own back was against the headboard and his legs were stretched alongside the back of the youngest member. Youngjae curled up by JB’s feet and Mark’s legs, resting his head on the older man’s butt. BamBam finally situated himself cuddling up with Youngjae, holding on tightly.

They all got comfortable quickly, pulling sleepy expressions or laughing at a stupid joke and getting candid shots. 

Yugyeom, though, could feel the tickle in the back of his throat. He swallowed in an attempt to get rid of it and that only served to make the feeling more prominent. 

Yugyeom pushed himself up quickly, breaking out of JB’s grip with ease due to their leaders surprise at his sudden movements. 

“Gyeom-ah? What’s wrong?” a loud voice called out. He recognized it as JB after a few seconds of consideration. 

Yugyeom opened his mouth to answer his hyung, but instead he began to cough. He covered his mouth with his arm, dry coughs sounding worse and more hoarse the longer they went on.

“Relax, Gyeom,” JB murmured from where he sat up next to the younger, gently rubbing Yugyeom’s back. “Deep breaths, angel.”

Yugyeom sucked in a deep breath but a loud, breath-stealing cough forced itself from his lungs and he wheezed.

“Can someone get some water?” Jinyoung almost yelled. He had leaned forwards and was now on his knees, a comforting hand on Yugyeom’s shoulder.

A staff member rushed to the side of the bed with a bottle of water, reaching over the other members to hand the bottle to Jinyoung.

Jinyoung unscrewed the cap and waited for a couple moments until Yugyeom had a break in coughing. He lifted the bottle to the youngest’s lips and tipped it, watching the youngest’s throat move as he swallowed before pulling the bottle back.

Yugyeom took a deep breath and groaned. 

“You alright?” BamBam asked from the end of the bed, his hand on Yugyeom’s ankle. Youngjae was looking at him from beside BamBam, his face a mix of confusion and worry.

Yugyeom nodded, blinking. He saw all of his members sending him concerned looks. 

“You seem a bit dazed,” Mark commented, moving closer to the youngest member. Yugyeom jerked away when his face got close, blinking in confusion again. 

Seeing the younger confused and slightly out of it, Jackson pushed himself up into a sitting position. 

“Are you sure you’re okay? Like really sure? You don’t seem like you usually do,” Jackson bluntly stated.

“My throat just kind of hurts, and I’m a little warm,” the youngest tried to explain, but he shut his mouth when Jinyoung raised a hand to his forehead. 

“You’re warmer than you were this morning,” he observed. “Maybe you should just ask to head home.”

“But hyung, we’re almost done,” Yugyeom protested, pulling away. Jinyoung’s hand fell off his forehead. At this point, everyone on the bed was sitting up.

“Gyeomie, you can't perform at the MAMAs if you get sicker,” JB cut in. “What good will exerting yourself now do if it means you’re not a part of one of the most important events of the year?”

Yugyeom’s shoulders slumped at the comment and he just nodded in understanding.

“Okay, hyung,” he mumbled.

“Manager-hyung,” Mark called, making their manager come over to the bed.

“Yugyeomie is feeling worse than this morning,” Jackson began. 

“His forehead is warmer than it was when I felt it when he woke up. It’s not a whole lot, but I can tell that this is warmer,” Jinyoung elaborated. 

“I’m sure you heard the coughing? And saw it?” Youngjae mentioned. “All Yugyeom.”

“I see,” their manger hummed. “I suppose he would be better off resting back home. This is not ideal, your MAMAs performance and appearance is only a few days away, plus you’ve still got a flight to go through just to get there. Come on, kiddo, I’ll get you a ride.”

Yugyeom looked to JB, worry on his face. He clearly didn’t want to leave, but the looks on the faces of the other members made his chest tighten.

“Go on,” JB agreed. He moved his hands a little ‘shoo’ motion. “Sleep. You’ll be grateful when you feel better.”

Yugyeom pushed himself off of the bed and shuffled a few steps before a hand caught his wrist. He knew just from the touch that it was BamBam. 

“Text me when you get home, okay?” the Thai man asked.

“I will,” Yugyeom promised. He padded slowly behind their manager, looking upset and a little too guilty for the rest of the member’s liking.

The rest of the team went back to shooting, their youngest member staying in the front of their minds.

——

When Yugyeom unlocked the door to the dorm he practically stumbled through the doorway. His manager followed him in, clicking the door shut and locking it. 

Yugyeom blearily shuffled towards the bathroom as his hyung removed his coat and set it on a nearby hook.

“Yugyeom-ah, I am going to find you some medicine, okay? Go get ready to take a shower, it will make you feel better.”

Yugyeom easily followed the instructions. He scampered off to his room to gather a change of clothes and a clean towel. In the process he also stripped out of his shirt. He made his way back to the shower and turned it on so it could heat up for a few minutes.

The manager knocked on the doorway to the bathroom. He handed over a few pills and a glass of water.

“It’s a fever reducer and a pill to help with your cough. Make sure to have take some more in about eight hours if your still not feeling any better,” their manager said, ruffling Yugyeom’s hair gently.

“Okay. Thank you, hyung,” Yugyeom replied, bowing quickly.

“Don’t mention it, Yugyeom. I should get going to the other boys. Don’t hesitate to call if you need anything. I’ll see you later, kid,” he finally said goodbye and made his was back down to his car.

Yugyeom finished stripping and slipped into the shower. He washed himself as quick as he could, hoping to get as much sleep as possible.

He got out of the shower and dressed himself in his underwear, sweatpants, then a long sleeve shirt. He dried his hair with his towel as he shuffled back to his room. 

He hung up his towel and then practically threw himself into bed.

He texted BamBam that he was home all safe and sound and had just finished showering. He mentioned that he felt better than before and then set down his phone so he could sleep.

Yugyeom curled up under the covers, coughing loudly in the silent dorm. He shook his head and sighed himself feeling under the covers.

He closed his eyes and within minutes he was fast asleep.

——

Yugyeom’s throat burned as he coughed. It sounded like he’d smoked a pack of cigarettes; he tried to suck in a breath and only succeeded in making himself cough harder.

He blindly fumbled around for a bottle of water on his nightstand, absentmindedly noticing that it was 1am. His hand made contact with the plastic bottle and he weakly wrapped his fingers around it and uncapped it before choking down a sip.

He coughed in the middle of drinking. In his attempt to keep the water in his mouth while he coughed he began to choke on it, forcing him to open his mouth and spew water all over himself and his bed. It dribbled down his chin and neck before he desperately wiped it off of his skin.

Yugyeom slumped where he sat, shoulders tucked into themselves. He slowly capped the bottle and set it back down on the nightstand.

There was a knock on the door and Mark poked his head in.

“Are you alright? I heard you coughing,” he asked, rubbing at his eyes.

Yugyeom felt guilty, knowing he had probably woken the eldest member up. He had already unintentionally kicked out BamBam because his best friend simply could not fall asleep while he was coughing so much.

“I’m okay, just coughing,” the younger replied quietly, not wanting to disturb the temporary peace. 

“You sure? It’s pretty late. Have you fallen asleep yet?” Mark asked as he walked into the room. He made his way to Yugyeom and looked around. It was like he was inspecting to see if there was evidence that Yugyeom actually wasn’t taking care of himself. Seemingly satisfied with what he saw, Mark brushed back Yugyeom’s hair and sat down on the bed next to him.

“Sorry I woke you up,” Yugyeom apologized.

Mark just shook his head. 

“Don’t apologize, you can’t control it. You didn’t answer my question, though. Have you fallen asleep yet? Or have you just been awake all night, coughing?”

Yugyeom flushed, but he didn’t want to lie. He’d promised to tell them when he wasn’t feeling well, and they left for the MAMAs in just about twelve hours, going from the 1:03 that shone brightly from his clock.

“I haven’t fallen asleep yet, no,” Yugyeom admitted. “I keep waking myself up right before I fall asleep.” 

Mark raised his hand to the youngest forehead and sighed softly. 

“You don’t feel too warm. I’m going to go make you a cup of tea and some honey to soothe your throat. Why don’t you grab some cough drops and use the bathroom while I’m gone?”

“Okay, hyung.”

The two got up and headed in separate directions. 

Yugyeom fumbled around with the bathroom handle for a minute before he actually managed to get it open. He used the toilet and washed his hands thoroughly, then again because he coughed directly into his palms. He searched around the medicine cabinet for a minute before finding the bag of menthol cough drops and shuffling back to his room.

Yugyeom practically collapsed into bed. He scattered a few cough drops on his bedside table and covered his mouth to cough. 

Mark came in the room a few minutes later, a cup of tea in his hands. He handed it to Yugyeom and directed him to take a small sip before having him set it down. Yugyeom swallowed with a little wince.

“Drink up the tea and focus on breathing,” the elder man instructed. “When you finish it, suck on a cough drop.” He put another pillow under Yugyeom’s head to prop it up in an attempt to reduce his coughing.

Yugyeom coughed as Mark sat down again, the younger sitting up. He hacked, like he was trying to expel his lungs from his chest. The noise was loud and raspy, and once he slowed down, Mark swore he could hear him wheeze. 

“Oh, kiddo,” he murmured, brushing away Yugyeom’s tears. He had began to cry, though it be from exhaustion or the cough he wasn’t sure.

Yugyeom sniffled, the tears only serving to worsen his slight congestion. 

“Come on, drink something, baby,” he soothed, bringing the mug with tea in it to the younger man’s lips. 

Yugyeom took baby sips, and after only a few moments he pushed Mark’s hand away. Mark set the glass down and ruffled Yugyeom’s hair affectionately. He stood up and kissed the crown of his head, watching the boy calm down. 

“Sleep well, Gyeom,” Mark murmured. He helped the boy lay back down and then sighed quietly, watching how his eyes shut weakly. He gently closed the bedroom door and walked away, leaving Yugyeom by himself once more.


	2. Chapter 2

Yugyeom was crying, not that he would let anybody know. He was sitting on his bed, hunched over, his shoulders curled in on themselves, shaking silently.

God, his everything ached. His throat hurt and he hadn’t been able to stop coughing. He didn’t want to admit it, even to himself, but he was warm enough to be running a fever.

He was dressed in a pair of black pants, a long sleeve shirt, and a long coat. He had long socks hidden under his pants and his comfiest pair of shoes he could wear in public. He had a black mask on, both for his cough and to hide his identity, though he doubted it would work, and a fiddlers cap that BamBam had thrown at him before he’d left their room. He only had small studs in his ears, and even though he may look presentable, he was exhausted.

After Mark had left the night before, he had diligently finished his tea and popped a cough drop into his mouth. It had eased the coughing enough for him to fall asleep, but he had woken up at least four more times afterwards; each time he had used another cough drop to fall asleep.

The tears slowly slid down Yugyeom’s cheeks and then got absorbed by the fabric of his mask. At least crying was keeping him from coughing for the time being. He was having a little trouble breathing, but he wouldn’t dare voice it to his hyungs, they would only be sad and disappointed in him.

Yugyeom had also begun to feel some sort of stomach ache. Once again, he was not even thinking of telling his hyungs; if he told them, he would probably be forced to either stay in Korea, or they wouldn’t let him perform at the MAMAs. He kept his mouth shut.

To sum it up, Yugyeom felt like shit, and he was sure his appearance probably reflected that. He didn’t want to feel this way, nor did he want to look this way, but he didn’t have a say in the matter.

Yugyeom rubbed at his face and grabbed his suitcase. They needed to leave in about forty minutes, and if he didn’t make an appearance to eat something, the others would know something was definitely wrong.

He dragged his suitcase out of his room and into the living room with the others, throwing his cap on top of the pile, before slinking his way into the kitchen and dining room. 

Mark looked up from his cereal from where he sat, instantly concern coated his features. Jackson and JB, each sitting on one side of Mark, both saw his look and immediately turned to ask him why he had made that face.

BamBam and Youngjae were oblivious, scrolling on BamBam’s phone and watching some video or drama.

Jinyoung turned around from the sink where he was washing up a pan from making eggs for some of the members. He set it to dry as he looked up to see who had walked into the kitchen.

Yugyeom gave him a weak smile before remembering he had a mask on. His hair was a mess, probably the reason BamBam had given him the cap, and even without the accessory on his head at the moment, his hair did a fine job of shielding his face.

“Hi, hyung,” he said, and winced after the way his voice sounded. 

Jinyoung was immediately alerted by the noise and stepped closer. Yugyeom forced himself not to step back; he didn’t want the man to get sick, but he had a mask on and had always washed his hands after coughing into them.

“Your voice sounds raw,” he commented, reaching for the side of Yugyeom’s neck and gently rubbing. “How do you feel? Better than yesterday? I heard you coughing pretty late at night; you did get to sleep, didn’t you?”

Yugyeom began to pull away, but a solid grip on his neck stopped him. He looked to the side to see Jaebum looking like a concerned parent. 

“You look tired,” their leader murmured. He stepped around Yugyeom so he was closer to both him and Jinyoung. He inched closer, brushing the slightly sweaty hair out of his face, revealing tired, wet eyes.

“Oh, Yugyeom-ah,” Jinyoung sighed. He reached up to gently wipe away tears from one side while JB did the same on the other. “Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

“It wasn’t that bad earlier,” he croaked. “My throat just hurts ‘cause I’ve been coughing so bad.”

“But you’re warmer than usual again,” JB commented. “When I brushed your hair back…”

“I’m a little warm, but honestly, hyung, it’s not that bad. It’s just my throat.”

“But you’re crying!” Jinyoung cut in. At that, the four heads sitting at the dining table snapped over to look at them.

“Crying?” Jackson asked at the same time as Mark.

JB gestured for them to be quiet.

“I promise, it’s just because I’m tired and coughing,” Yugyeom practically pleaded. “I’m fine, I promise.”

“Yugyeom,” JB began, but the taller man shook his head in protest.

“No, I’m okay. I’ll be fine. Please, you can’t leave without me. I’ve been looking forward to the MAMAs for so long this year!”

“Angel,” Jinyoung soothed, “we’re not going to go without you. But please, please tell us if you don’t feel well. None of us want you hurting or getting any sicker. This is basically as bad as it can get with our performance tomorrow. We want you to come with, obviously, and we want you to perform, but if you don’t tell us you’re sick or that your voice is shot, how can we help you get better?”

“I’m sorry,” Yugyeom whispered, already regretting his outburst. “I just didn’t want to worry you. You already have a lot to worry about.”

“You could never bother us with things like this,” JB argued, kissing his head softly. “Tell us if anything happens. We wouldn’t go without you unless it was really bad. You might be unable to perform if this gets worse, but maknae-ah, we would never just leave you here if we have a say in the matter.”

Jinyoung nodded, pulling their maknae into a tight hug; he kissed his forehead before Yugyeom pulled away.

“Let me get you something to eat,” Jinyoung said, directing Yugyeom to hop up on the counter while he pulled out what he needed.

JB left the two of them and walked around the island counter to go sit with the rest of the members. They bombarded him with quiet questions about the youngest, which he gave comforting answers to, saying that he was going to be fine.

Jinyoung handed Yugyeom a mug filled with tea, just as Mark had done at the beginning of the morning, and proceeded to move around the kitchen. Eventually he guided Yugyeom to hop off the counter and had him sit at the table. He set a plate in front of him and told him to eat as much as he could before sitting down beside him to eat his own meal.

“Thanks, Jinyoung-hyung,” Yugyeom murmured, voice less rough after sipping on the tea the man had given him. 

Jackson, BamBam, Mark, and Youngjae all shared looks when they heard the voice of their maknae.

Yugyeom saw it and sighed.

“I’ll be okay,” he said, giving a thumbs up and a bright smile they could all see, now that he had pulled his mask down to eat.

All six members gave Yugyeom their best smiles back; all six members felt worry and concern build up in their chests for the youngest.

They all finished eating rather quickly when JB announced their manager would be there in just fifteen minutes to pick them up and take them to the airport. 

Jinyoung and Youngjae gathered the dishes to hand wash and set them out to dry. BamBam and Jackson grabbed everyone’s suitcases to pile near the door. Once everyone was gathered with their luggage, Jaebum did a double check on things they needed to have with them.

They all grabbed their own suitcases and slung their backpacks over their shoulders. They filed out of the dorm and down to where their manager sat in his car. They shoved their suitcases in the car and then got in.

Mark sat up front, intent on taking a short nap during the car ride.

Youngjae, BamBam, and Jackson all filled in the middle row of seats.

Yugyeom was purposely put in between Jaebum and Jinyoung in the back. As soon as he sat down, he slumped against his leader. Jinyoung put a comforting hand on the youngest’s thigh and JB held onto Yugyeom’s hand.

The maknae’s cap sat in his lap. His mask was pulled back over his mouth and his nose. His hair was dusted across his face, some slightly matted to his forehead with sweat. His eyes were closed, and if JB and Jinyoung looked close enough they could see how they were slightly swollen from earlier. He was breathing deeply, and although nobody in the car could hear it, there was a faint wheeze at the tail-end of each breath. Yugyeom fell asleep quickly, tense body finally relaxing.

“Is he going to be okay?” Jackson asked from just in front of the trio, turning around to look at the youngest. “I’m worried. If he’s sick like this tomorrow, and his voice sounds like that, will he be able to perform?”

“I hope so,” Jinyoung replied, massaging Yugyeom’s leg. “It seemed to improve greatly after he drank some tea with honey, so I’m hoping that, as long as he has either drinks something or has a cough drop consistently leading up to our performance, he should be okay.”

JB hummed in agreement, and at that moment, everyone in the car, save Yugyeom and Mark who were both asleep, was listening to the words of their ‘parents’.

“I’m going to try and get him to rest as much as possible for today. He should rest now, in the airport, on the plane, and when we land. I know we are probably expected to practice and to do a VLive tonight, but Yugyeom will not be participating. He needs his rest, especially if we are hoping he gets over whatever this is by tomorrow night,” JB explained. He patted Yugyeom’s hair down from where it stuck up when he shifted around.

“I just want him to feel better,” BamBam mumbled, pouting as he looked to his best friend.

“We all do,” Jackson agreed. “Let’s all pay attention to him for the next few days, even after this whole thing is over. I feel like he’s been pushing himself pretty hard recently.”

“Mm,” Youngjae agreed immediately, nodding.

“Yeah, that would be a smart thing to do,” Jinyoung commented. “My eyes on you,” he sang to Yugyeom, and though the joke was lost on the sleeping boy, it managed to life the spirits of the others, even if just a little.

Yugyeom groaned, shifting around against JB, making the older man stop moving. Everyone watched with bated breath, hoping that the youngest wouldn’t wake up. When he settled down, turning his body slightly to curl up to JB, everyone let out an audible sigh.

“Let’s keep quiet so he can stay asleep,” Jinyoung said. Everyone nodded, and the van slipped into relative silence for the rest of the drive to the airport.

When they arrived, the all got out of the car, but left Jaebum with Yugyeom against his shoulder while the got out their suitcases.

“Hey, Gyeom, wake up,” he muttered, gently making the boy sit up and holding him steady by his shoulders. “We’re at the airport.”

Yugyeom grunted in response and his eyes fluttered open. He squinted, but eventually relaxed his eyes as he adjusted to the bright light.

JB got out of the car, letting Yugyeom hide behind him as he pulled his hat onto his head. They all grabbed their own luggage and wheeled inside. 

Their managers had made sure to keep their flight time quiet from any media; ever since Yugyeom had gotten sick and had to leave their photo shoot, they had been prepared for the worst, like him being sick as they went on the plane, so they kept the information under lock and key. Nobody swarmed the entrance, nobody was inside, and the members were relieved they didn’t have to make up excuses or push through fans.

It was, for once, an almost painless process as they proceeded through the airport. They got to their gate with plenty of time to spare. Youngjae and Mark were laying against each other, watching some show on Netflix. Jackson, Jaebum, and Jinyoung were all talking about something quietly, probably the MAMAs, which left BamBam and Yugyeom together.

Yugyeom set his head on the older man’s shoulder and watched him as he played a game. Eventually, BamBam switched to Netflix himself and gave Yugyeom and earbud. Yugyeom slowly began to fade, but it was bright and the middle of the day, making it difficult for him to actually fall asleep; he stayed in a state of half-consciousness as he watched Netflix with the Thai man.

At some point Yugyeom stopped paying attention to the show and was just blankly staring at the screen with half-lidded eyes. He was tired, but with the light streaming through the large glass walls of the airport, he was just unable to fall asleep. 

A hand shook Yugyeom’s shoulder, snapping him out of his state. He shook his head and looked up to see Jackson standing above him. 

“We’re boarding,” he announced, and Yugyeom realized that he had been staring at the floor for who knows how long.

“Oh,” the youngest breathed out. He stood up, joints popping as he did so. Jackson clapped a hand on his shoulder and grabbed his bag, steering Yugyeom to the counter so they could scan their boarding passes and get on the plan.

Yugyeom was shoved into the seat next to Jinyoung and across from Mark, Jaebum beside Mark, and then BamBam, Youngjae, and Jackson a few rows back. Jinyoung ruffled his hair when he sat down, giving him a smile that told him that Jinyoung wanted him sitting there.

Yugyeom shoved his bag under his seat and slumped onto Jinyoung’s shoulder. He closed his eyes, slipping further away from consciousness. He felt a whine of sorts leave his lips as his eyes fluttered.

Jinyoung ran a hand through his hair and gently massaged his scalp.

“It’s okay,” he murmured, “you can fall asleep. Just close your eyes.”

Yugyeom let his eyes shut and his body went completely slack against Jinyoung’s. The older man continued to massage his head absentmindedly as the announcement that they would be leaving shortly went over the plane intercom.

Yugyeom was out within minutes.

——

Yugyeom came to being slowly bounced. He blinked his hazy eyes open and sniffled. The first thing he noticed was that his head was tucked into someone’s neck, and the next thing he realized was that he was curled around someone’s back. It then dawned on him that there were warm hands wrapped around his thighs and he realized that he was being carried, and a flood of embarrassment flooded through him when he heard the loud clicks or cameras and his whole body tensed up.

The hand on his right thigh gently squeezed and he heard a quiet laugh.

“Relax, Gyeom-ah,” the voice muttered. “It’s okay. We just didn’t want to wake you up because you were pretty deeply asleep. We only just got off the plane.”

“Hyung,” Yugyeom whined, but his voice was incredibly quiet. “You can set me down.”

“I could, but I won’t,” Jackson laughed. Yugyeom was almost amazed that the Chinese man was holding him steadily, but the more he thought about it the less he cared; his boyfriend was strong, and he was going to enjoy it. He shoved his face back into Jackson’s neck and gave him a hidden kiss. 

“Are you feeling better?” Youngjae asked quietly from where he was walking beside Jackson. 

“I guess,” Yugyeom sighed. “I don’t feel as sick, I suppose.” With a quick glance, he saw that Mark and Jinyoung were walking together in front of them, BamBam was hovering around Mark’s side, and JB was talking to their manager at the front of the pack. 

Jackson readjusted Yugyeom, making the boy let out a little yelp and hold onto him tighter. Youngjae’s face broke into a smile at the noise and Yugyeom couldn’t help but feel that Jackson had definitely done that on purpose, and it wasn’t to stop Yugyeom from falling.

Mark turned to look at them upon hearing the noise, but seeing a smile across the three men’s faces made him turn back to BamBam and Jinyoung. 

They made it out of the airport after grabbing their luggage and got into a van to take them to their hotel.

The ride to the hotel was easy and painless. They all got out, but this time Yugyeom was walking by himself. He dragged his suitcase inside and waited for JB and Jinyoung to get their hotel keys. The two returned and ushered the other members into the elevator and to their room floor.

They played rock, paper, scissors to decide who would room together, and the results were interesting. 

BamBam and Youngjae were put together, Jinyoung and Jackson, and then Yugyeom, Mark, and Jaebum would be rooming together. They decided that, due to his sickness, it would be best to let Yugyeom have his own bed and be in the presence of their leader in case anything happened.

They stood outside their rooms, keys in hand.

“The basic plan is to spend the rest of our time practicing for tomorrow and afterwards we should do a vlive. Our manager said we have about an hour to unpack and get stuff ready, we will only be practicing for an hour or so. Yugyeom-ah, hyung said that you should stay here and rest as much as you can before tomorrow,” JB announced, getting nods of confirmation from everyone.

They all spread out into separate rooms.

Yugyeom shuffled towards the bed, but before he could fall onto it, Mark wrapped his arms around his waist to keep him from falling.

“You have to shower first,” he insisted. “You’ll feel better, you’ll be clean, and then you can relax in bed.”

Yugyeom groaned, but he didn’t sit down. He pulled off his mask and his hat and tossed them onto the side table. He searched through his luggage for his toiletries, a shirt to sleep in, underwear, and a pair of sweatpants. 

He slipped into the bathroom as Jaebum and Mark unpacked their own things and got ready for rehearsal.

Yugyeom turned on the shower and began to strip out of his clothes. He got into the hot shower and sighed as the water hit his skin. He washed his hair with shampoo and conditioner. He washed his body next, glad to get rid of the residual sweat that had been on him all day. He stepped out and toweled himself off before pulling on his underwear, sweatpants, and a shirt. He ruffled his hair with the towel, drying it as best as he could before he hung it up and left the bathroom.

Yugyeom walked back into the main room and practically vaulted into bed. He bounced when he landed, earning an exasperated smile from Jaebum and a laugh from Mark. 

He tucked himself under the covers and grabbed his phone to most likely watch something.

“Ah, hyung?” Yugyeom spoke up, causing both men to turn and face him. He smiled. “Either one. Could one of you please grab me a mask? The black one is all gross, and I know I’m going to sleep, but I don’t want to spew my sickness everywhere while you’re gone.”

Mark moved first, digging through his bag and handing the boy a mask. He slipped it on, giving Mark a big smile before covering up his mouth and nose.

They older two had about half an hour before they needed to leave, and they had mostly unpacked everything already, so they came over to Yugyeom’s bed and curled around him. Mark curled into his front, tucking his head underneath Yugyeom’s chin, making the younger giggle in delight. Jaebum slipped in behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist and pressing a few light kisses to his shoulder.

“Mnnn, don’t kiss me,” Yugyeom whined. “You’ll get sick.”

“You just showered, and I’m not kissing your lips. Besides, you haven’t coughed since you got out of the shower,” Jaebum teased. He stretched a bit further and kissed Yugyeom’s ear.

Mark tilted his head up and smiled. 

“Yugyeom-ah,” he said, drawing the youngest’s attention and making him look down to see his face.

Mark leaned forward and kissed his lips through the mask, making Yugyeom squeak as he almost immediately pulled away.

“Hyung!” he whined. “You’ll get sick!”

“You have a mask on, baby,” Mark replied, sticking his tongue out at the youngest. 

He huffed angrily, a pout on his lips, and although Mark couldn’t see his mouth, the way his cheeks moved and his eyebrows dropped gave away the rest of his expression.

Jaebum sighed a little while later, pushing up from behind Yugyeom. 

“We should go,” he said to Mark. 

They both got up and slipped on their shoes. They grabbed their jackets, phones, and wallets, each giving Yugyeom a kiss on the forehead as they left the hotel room.

Yugyeom was left to his own devices, so he turned off all the lights, qued Netflix up on his phone, and watched it as he fell asleep.

The show played quietly on the little nightstand, propped up by the base of the lamp. Other than the screen, the room was completely dark thanks to the black-out curtains blocking any and all lights from the city around the hotel. The walls muted the noise from outside, and Yugyeom was content. 

His eyes fluttered as he watched his show. A few dry coughs left his mouth as he laid their, mask secure on his face. He shook from the cool air in the room and pushed himself deeper under the covers. Eventually, he drifted off to sleep, his phone a soft beacon of light.


	3. Chapter 3

Yugyeom woke up to blurry vision. He cracked open his eyes and the lights were blurred, along with everything else in the room. He blinked, eyes glassy.

“Hey, he’s up,” a voice called, and Yugyeom turned his head to see BamBam crouched by the beside.

Yugyeom groaned and sat up, rubbing at his eyes to remove the sleep from them. He groaned again, clutching at his stomach for a moment before letting his hand drop.

Jaebum walked over, raising a hand to Yugyeom forehead.

“He’s warmer than yesterday, but it has dropped from where it was when he woke up the first time,” their leader spoke. “Yugyeom, how do you feel?”

“Uh… okay, I guess? I’m a little warm, and my stomach hurts… and my chest hurts too… but, I mean, that’s all?” he said. Coughs racked his body and he seemed surprised. He coughed again, throat feeling dry.

“Do you remember this morning?” Mark asked from where he sat on his own bed.

“This morning?” Yugyeom asked, looking at a nearby clock to see that it was almost noon. “How is it so late?”

“Your fever spiked overnight. You weren’t really awake for it though, mostly just tossing around in your bed. You ended up falling out of bed, which is what woke Mark up, and he figured out you were running a fever. We gave you some fever reducers and made you drink a few glasses of water and then you were completely out again,” Jaebum explained. “We didn’t want to wake you up; we figured you should sleep as much as possible.”

“Mmhh,” Yugyeom nodded. “Thanks. And sorry, I guess.”

“I’m just glad you’re feeling better and that your voice isn’t scratchy anymore. It seems like you’re right on the path to being able to perform,” BamBam grinned, standing up and patting Yugyeom’s back. 

“Yeah. The MAMAs should be starting around 6ish, and we’re on at about 9:40ish? Our performance will last approximately 20 minutes, then we can go and sit back down. The whole event should be ending around 11, assuming we’re lucky and speeches don’t go on forever. We can head back to the hotel. Our flight back to Korea is scheduled for about 5pm tomorrow night, which gives us plenty of time to sleep in,” JB told Yugyeom from across the room.

“Sounds good, hyung.”

“We’re going to be getting ready at about 2, then we will be arriving at the venue, walking the carpet for pictures and such, and then going to sit down in our seats around 5:30. We will be leaving to get prepped for our performance at around 8:00 to 8:10, assuming the timing isn’t early or late. After our performance, we will get out of mics and then go sit down again at about 9:10. The show should be over around 11 if it stays on time, and then we can head back to the hotel right after,” JB said, giving them the specific details. 

Yugyeom nodded in understanding.

“Sorry for worrying you,” the youngest apologized, rubbing his neck sheepishly. “I was feeling pretty good when I fell asleep.”

“That’s alright,” Mark said. “As long as you tell us if it comes back.”

“Of course,” Yugyeom confirmed. “I wouldn’t keep that from you, especially if it could compromise a performance.”

——

The thick, black choker around Yugyeom’s neck made him breathless, and not in a good way. It felt constricting and the maknae felt like he couldn’t breath. So far he’s been hiding it extremely well, and he was already looking forwards to when they’d change their outfits to perform and the choker would hopefully be removed.

The flashing lights around him were not helping as they walked down the carpet. They paused to take pictures and he pulled a composed look directly from his ass. He was getting a headache already, and he knew that they were going to be close to the stage, and therefore they would be close to fireworks, stage effects, booming speakers, and background audio, and he was not prepared to deal with that.

As they made their way to their seats, JB grabbed his wrist gently and held him back so he could talk to him. 

“Are you alright? I can see you’re a bit pale, even through your makeup.”

“I’m always pale, Jaebum-hyung,” Yugyeom protested with a smile. 

As much as JB likes seeing his youngest boyfriends bright smile, the fact that he wasn’t wearing a mask was slightly worrying. It’s not like he could be wearing one, that wouldn’t be fun to deal with media trying to make up stories about him harboring some weird disease or something, but JB didn’t like how pale his face was or how his skin seemed less-bright than usual. He was still sick, even if Yugyeom seemed to be avoiding telling his members about it.

They sat down in their seats and waited for the show to begin. The noise was slowly increasing around them and Yugyeom had begun to shrink in on himself. His shoulders were slightly scrunched and he was folded forwards. He was tense, and he looked it, too.

“Angel, relax,” Jackson said as he leaned forward to look at the maknae. “I can practically feel how tense you are.”

“Sorry hyungie,” the boy replied. “I’m just…” He was struggling to find the right words, and finally figured it would be best to tell them the truth. “I think I’m just a little tired, but I’m starting to get a headache.”

“Aw,” Youngjae pouted, rubbing the youngest’s temples gently. “Do you want advil? I’m sure I could find some if I text manager-hyung.”

“That’s okay, Jaejae-hyung,” Yugyeom said, a gorgeous smile lighting up his face. “Thank you.”

Youngjae smiled back, just as bright, and the team fell silent in the ever-growing loudness of the MAMAs. 

——

“Yugyeom! Hey, Gyeom-ah!” a voice snapped him out of his reverie. 

“Ah?” He blinked. “What?”

Jungkook’s beaming face was in front of him, and immediately Yugyeom’s own mouth had spread into a wide smile. 

“Kookie!” he practically squealed. They hugged tightly, smiles unable to be taken from either of their faces.

“It’s been way too long,” Jungkook whined, pulling away. “We should go bowling again.”

Yugyeom groaned.

“You kicked my sorry ass last time,” Yugyeom pouted, crossing his arms over his chest and looking down at Jungkook. “It was so not cool.”

“You had fun though.”

“Yeah, when you apologized for not telling me you practiced by buying me fries,” the younger of the two laughed. Jungkook rolled his eyes at him.

“Gyeomie! We have to get our mics!” BamBam yelled from a little ways down the hall. Yugyeom gave him a thumbs up and singled ‘one minute’ before quickly turning back to Yugyeom.

“Text me!” the younger beamed. “It was really nice seeing you again!”

Jungkook nodded enthusiastically. 

“It’s always wonderful to see you,” the older said fondly. 

“Promise to find me before we leave?” Yugyeom asked, sticking out a pinky.

“I promise. I won’t let my hyungs leave before I see you again tonight,” Jungkook agreed.

Yugyeom hugged him one last time before he turned around and jogged to catch up to BamBam. He sent a little wave once he was next to his boyfriend and Jungkook smiled and waved back.

As Jungkook watched them walk away, he couldn’t help but notice how Yugyeom’s shoulders were slightly slouched, or how he had been absentmindedly rubbing his throat as they had been talking. He had noticed a slight wheeze when he had taken a quick breath after speaking. He watched his friend wobble down the hallway, and settled to text him after both GOT7 and BTS had performed. 

——

JB gently pushed Jackson to the side as he adjusted his mic, walking towards BamBam to help him get his wires untangled. He managed to do so in only a minute, rushing away before the Thai man could so much as utter a ‘thank you’ to his leader.

He grabbed an earpiece off the ground, recognizing the colors and shape as the ones they used. He looked around to see Mark looking confused and noticed that the earpiece was missing from his left ear. He practically sprinted over and pressed it into his ear gently, startling the elder man but then earning himself a grateful smile.

He had half a mind to hit Jackson from where he was pestering Youngjae, but he saw the younger man’s bright smile and moved on to where Jinyoung was humming and singing a few bites.

JB gave him a quick peck on the cheek, too fast for anyone to ask questions, and began to love on.

He then noticed Yugyeom, slumped slightly against the wall, head down, hair hiding his face; ‘that’s not good’ his brain supplied. He briskly walked over to him and lifted his head by gripping his chin.

Yugyeom’s face was pale, even more so than earlier, something that spiked fear through JB’s entire body. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked immediately.

“It’s okay,” the younger panted slightly. “I’m just a little lightheaded. I promise I’ll be fine.”

JB had to take his word for it. He had to trust him, despite how hot he felt underneath the fabric of his shirt and jacket. He had to trust him because they went on in less than three minutes and he couldn’t do anything about it anyways.

JB ushered them towards the stage, and they split into their separate spots to enter. 

On the big screen, it began, and out they went to perform.

JB had to trust that Yugyeom was fine because he couldn’t begin to think about what would happen if he wasn’t.

——

Yugyeom was not fine. Yugyeom was really not fine. He was disoriented, but he could feel his body going through the actions he’d done over and over in preparation for this. He could feel the sweat practically coating his skin, both underneath the layers he wore and showing to the world on his chest left exposed by a partially-unbuttoned shirt. He was overheating, and the longer he sang and danced, the more his focus was breaking to think about how uncomfortable he was and how much something in his chest hurt and how he wanted to hurl and that it hurt hurt hurt and he couldn’t focus and then-

He was snapped back to reality when he felt his throat tickle like he was going to cough and he refused to be ‘that one kpop idol that coughed during his performance’ and he was completely focused again.

Every step was perfect, every note and harmony nailed, everything calculated and then, suddenly, there was an uproar and he realized that they had finished performing and he had somehow just spaced-out a fifteen minute performance and yet when he thought about it he could remember every single detail of every minute.

A hand wrapped around his wrist and he was almost dragged off stage before he remembered that his legs worked. He stumbled, caught himself, and then was suddenly being pulled along. He felt a hand taking out his earpieces and someone else took off his mic and someone removed the jacket from his shoulders. He shuddered with the suddenly cold surrounding him. 

His head was swimming.

“Yugyeom?”

“Mmmm,” he mumbled, trying to regain focus.

“Come back earth, Gyeom-ah. Hey.”

There were gently hands on his face and he zoned back in. BamBam was in front of him, concern drawing his eyebrows up.

Yugyeom shook his head to clear it and coughed.

“You alright? You really spaced out there for a few minutes,” BamBam asked, dropping his hands to the younger man’s shoulders.

“Yeah, yeah I’m good. I just really got out of it for a minute there.”

BamBam undid the rest of the buttons of his white shirt and pulled it off, gesturing for him to go grab the rest of his clothes and change back into them.

Yugyeom went to change, shaky hands slightly fumbling around with his belt. He wanted to curse at himself for being this way, but soon got it undone and changed. He slipped on his other shirt and jacket. He held the thick choker in his hands, just staring at it. He really didn’t want to put it on, but if he didn’t that would give away to his hyungs that something was wrong and he really didn’t want them to worry, he just wanted them to enjoy the rest of the night.

Yugyeom slipped on the choker and instantly his shortness of breath was worse. His chest was tight and he was practically wheezing when he breathed. He coughed in an attempt to clear his throat and slowly returned to his members, who were already re-dressed and ready to go.

“Come on, Gyeomie,” Youngjae called, brightness shining from his face. It was infectious, despite the pain in Yugyeom’s chest and the ever-growing urge to just collapse, and Yugyeom smiled back. Youngjae grabbed his hand as they started walking, swinging it between them for a few moments before bringing it to his mouth to kiss it.

Yugyeom was feeling sick. When they finally sat down all he wanted to do was sleep. It was obvious to Jackson and Mark, who had squished him in between them. He was fading away slowly, eyes blank. He was starting to lose time. One minute he was sitting up, staring at the stage with as much interest as he could with upbeat music playing, and the next he was tipped to one side, Jackson propping him up with worry on his face, the stage now bright with people accepting awards. 

Yugyeom recognized when BTS went up to perform. He knows that he clapped for them, for Jungkook, and if he tried he could remember all the details of their performance, but for god's sake he could not remember actually watching it in real time. Just afterwards. 

Yugyeom’s throat constricted. He felt like he was going to hurl. He doesn’t want to be here anymore. He wants to go, now. He wants to be not here. He wants anything else, wants to be anywhere else.

Yugyeom pushed himself up and off of Jackson, and stood. 

“I have to pee,” he blurted out, turning six heads to look at him. 

Jaebum let out a surprised laughed. 

“Go ahead. They’re aren’t any awards left, just a couple performances and then the closing ceremony or whatever,” JB says. “Be back soon. We’re going to try to say hi to a couple of people after this ends, and I’m sure you want to find Jungkook.”

“What time is this supposed to end?” Yugyeom asks, and he almost curses himself because he knows he is about to be really sick and he can’t waste time, but Jinyoung is quick to respond.

“Well, we were a little bit behind schedule when we performed, so probably around 11:30? It’s currently 10:48, so you’ve got time.”

Yugyeom nodded and rushed off. 

He wasn’t about to use the restrooms open to the public, that would be awful. He thought about using the ones closer to the stage, just for idols and attending performers and such, but he shook his head. Someone else might come in to one of those, and that would be incredibly difficult to explain to them. Not a good option. He finally rushed backstage, dogging a couple people and stagehands. The further he went back, the less people that were around.

Finally, Yugyeom happened upon an empty one-person bathroom in a silent hallway and dashed for it. He shoved the door open, slamming it against the wall before it came back to shut behind him. In just a second he was bent over the toilet, retching.

He knew that this was coming, but it felt awful even then. His hands tore at his throat, desperate to remove the choker from his neck. He managed to get it off, but his shortness of breath was not relieved. He felt faint, but the pulsing in his stomach and pain in his throat would not let him go. 

Yugyeom could feel tears building; he couldn’t tell if it was the pain, coughing, the fact that he was throwing up, or something else entirely. He wanted it to stop, but his stomach tightened and he coughed again, clutching on to the toilet with shaking hands.

Yugyeom finally rocked backwards, his back hitting the wall. He gagged, but didn’t have the energy to lean forwards.

He felt hot, so hot. He scratched at his chest to unbutton buttons that weren’t there. He finally realized this and let out a cry, tearing at the jacket sitting on his shoulders and letting it fall to the floor in a heap. He retched again and vaulted forward, letting nothing but stomach acid and saliva drip into the toilet from his empty stomach. 

Yugyeom was dizzy. He was hot, sweating all over. His hair was plastered to his forehead and neck; it had gone from being light and fluffy to being slicked with sweat like he’d been dunked into a pool of water. He full-body shuddered and it hurt.

His throat burned; he coughed, deep and raspy, echoing in the bathroom. He ducked in a breath and wheezed, unable to breathe properly. He coughed again, his body desperately trying to get him to empty his lungs so he could breathe again, but all it succeeded in doing was giving him less time to suck in little breath. He felt faint, his head propped up on the toilet seat, body crumpled around it.

Yugyeom reached up and flushed the toilet. He moved to push himself to stand on shaky legs, but it wasn’t going to happen. He got one leg up from underneath him and just collapsed onto the ground, body hitting the floor like he’d been shot. 

His faded fast, eyes slipping shut and tears mixing with the sweat already streaming down his face. 

His breathing came out in short, little pants, wheezes on the tail end of every single one. He couldn’t breath, and it only helped to serve him in shutting down. 

Moments later, Kim Yugyeom lay on the floor of a bathroom, far backstage, passed out and alone, fever rising ever higher.


	4. Chapter 4

Jungkook laughed loudly and clapped his hands. He shook his head at Taehyung, who was succeeding in annoying the hell out of Yoongi. He turned away, rubbing a hand through his hair and heading over to Namjoon.

“Hey, I’m gonna go find a bathroom, I have to pee,” he said. 

“Sure, go for it. Be back soon, though. The show is currently ending, and we should all go out to hug people in about ten minutes,” their leader said, waving him off. 

Jungkook gave his leader a thumbs up and a smile before dashing off to find a bathroom. Most of the ones near the front were locked and therefore occupied, so he had to make his way back, and further away from the stage.

Finally he found an empty hallway with a bathroom about halfway down. The hallway lead to one other room, storage if the bunny-maknae read the sign right, so Jungkook walked over to the bathroom door and tried the handle. It turned, and he cheered.

He pushed the door open, and for a moment the scene in front of him didn’t register. He blinked, staring blankly, a smile still on his face, and then it hit him.

Yugyeom. Yugyeom was on the floor, eyes closed and breaths in short little pants. He seemed like he was struggling to breath. His closest friend outside of his team members was passed out on the floor of a dingy bathroom during the ending of an awards ceremony nearing 11:30 at night. 

Jungkook stumbled forward and fell to his knees next to the younger man. He shook him, desperate to wake him up or something, and he propped the man up on his thighs. Yugyeom’s eyes fluttered open and he groaned loudly.

“Yugyeom, look at me,” Jungkook ordered, getting his best friends attention. “Gyeomie, keep your eyes open. I know it must be hard, but please.”

Yugyeom just groaned, head lolling to the side, eyes blankly looking at the ceiling. He whimpered, letting out weak, wet coughs.

“Gyeomie, what’s wrong? What’s happening?” 

Yugyeom groaned. 

“Mmm’ phhiiiiine,” he slurred, voice pitched higher than usual. He gagged, throat restricting, but there wasn’t anything left to come up. “Don’t tell hyungs… hyungie will be so upset.” He laughed, but he got cut off by himself when he coughed. 

Jungkook felt his forehead and almost reeled back in surprise. He was burning up. Sweat cascaded from the younger man’s skin, his face in particular, and Jungkook was lost.

Yugyeom was still kind of mumbling, and Jungkook was beginning to panic, so he did what he did every time he started to panic and pulled out his phone from his pocket.

He called Namjoon.

“Where did-”

Jungkook cut him off. 

“Hyung, hyung, something’s wrong-” 

This time Namjoon cut him off.

“Woah, kiddo, slow down and breath for me, okay? If you’re worked up like this, you can’t tell me what’s wrong.”

Jungkook took a deep breath and a little sob left his mouth as he stared at Yugyeom.

“Hyung, please, something is wrong with Yugyeom.”

“Yugyeom-ah? What do you mean?” Namjoon asked. He was already out the door to their ‘getting ready’ area.

“I’m in a bathroom near the opposite end of the stage,” Jungkook began, and he could hear Namjoon running. “It’s an empty hallway, only two doors, one says bathroom and I’m pretty sure the other one says storage. Namjoon-hyung, please hurry, I don’t know what’s wrong, he’s so out of it.”

“I’m coming, don’t worry,” the older man breathed. “I promise that I’m on my way.”

A minute later, Jungkook could hear footsteps outside the door and it was pushed open; Namjoon looked almost like an angel in that moment and the younger man was sure he’d never felt more relief flood through him in his life.

Namjoon ended the call and shoved his phone back into his pocket m. He rushed over and kneeled down next to the two maknaes. He put a hand on Yugyeom’s forehead and hissed.

“He’s really warm,” he said, sounding worried. “We need to cool him off.”

Yugyeom groaned loudly, glassy eyes looking up at Namjoon and Jungkook. 

“Hyung. Hyu-un-g, iths so warm,” he slurred. 

“Yugyeom,” Namjoon said, trying to get his attention. “Yugyeom, can you look at me please?”

The younger threw his head to the side to look at Namjoon. His eyes sparked with recognition and if he wasn’t already red Jungkook is sure he would have flushed from embarrassment. He opened his mouth to say something but Namjoon cut him off.

“It’s okay,” he soothed. “Don’t worry, kiddo, we’ll fix it.”

Yugyeom coughed, hard. Tears leaked down his cheeks and Jungkook scrambled to hold his hand.

“Can you tell me what’s wrong? Do you know what caused your fever?” Namjoon asked slowly.

Yugyeom shook his head. 

“I don’t know anything,” he whimpered.

“That’s okay,” Jungkook told him, rubbing his shoulder. “It’s okay.”

Yugyeom cried on the floor. He kept coughing, breaths becoming ever more wheezy and short.

Namjoon turned to Jungkook.

“Bunny, look at me,” he said, and the kid snapped to look up at him. “Can you give me Yugyeom and grab my phone out of my pocket?”

Jungkook handed Yugyeom to Namjoon, who sat the boy up against the cold wall. The BTS maknae grabbed his leader’s phone and handed it to him before going to comfort Yugyeom.

Namjoon scrolled through his phone, going to his contacts and looking for someone.

“Who’re your calling?”

“JB-ssi,” Namjoon replied. He waited with the phone on speaker. It rang through. He tried again, waiting for the leader of Got7 to pick up, yet, nothing. 

“Don’t you also have Jackson-hyungs number?” Jungkook asked.

“Yeah,” the leader replied, so he tried his fellow rappers number. It went straight to voicemail. He cursed loudly.

“Kookie, I’m going to have to take him back to our room. I’m sure the ceremony is completely over by now, but please go find someone from Got7. They’ve got to be looking for him, I’m sure.”

Jungkook nodded and sprang up from the ground. Yugyeom whined, but he was already gone from the bathroom.

Namjoon shushed the boy gently and put his arms underneath the boys armpits. He pulled him up and Yugyeom slumped against him. Heat radiated from him and Namjoon felt himself heat up from the boys close proximity.

“Hey, Yugyeom-ah, I need you to help me here,” Namjoon said as he struggled to keep the boy standing. 

Yugyeom practically withered in Namjoon’s grip; he was shaking and lightly crying. 

“Walk, kid, come on,” the leader encouraged. He helped Yugyeom walk almost halfway there before he just crumpled into his arms. 

Namjoon caught him and swung the tall maknae up, making him squeak.

“Mmm’ soo sorry… sorry sunbaenim…”

“Don’t say sorry for something you can’t control, and call me hyung.”

Yugyeom gave him a wiry smile, but he broke into coughs and wheezes.

Namjoon finally made it back to their room, pushing through the door, and instantly he had five people surrounding him.

“Back up! Let me set him down!” he yelled. Everyone backed up and let him set the tall boy down on the couch. 

Yugyeom wheezed, still struggling to breath. 

“Get me some water and a cloth, please.”

Jin and Taehyung disappeared.

Minutes blurred together and Yugyeom continued to cough and wheeze. He gagged and began dry heaving, but there was nothing to come up.

Taehyung and Jin returned quickly. Namjoon placed the cold washcloth on Yugyeom’s forehead, pushing back his slicked hair, making the boy let out a loud moan. 

Out of nowhere, Jungkook slammed open the door, pulling in a harried Jinyoung by the wrist. Jinyoung’s eyes locked onto Yugyeom and he sprinted forward, kneeling down beside his youngest boyfriend.

“Angel,” Jinyoung says, and that’s all it takes for Yugyeom to burst into tears again. His eyes crack open and he weakly raises his hand. Jinyoung easily takes his hand and wipes away the tears streaming down his face. “Oh, honey,” he murmured. “It’s gonna be okay. Take deep breaths for me.”

Yugyeom sucked in a suffering breath and coughed. He was openly sobbing, only serving in dehydrating himself further.

“Do you have any water?” Jinyoung asked. 

Jin handed him the bottle he’d found, already uncapped. Jinyoung lifted the bottle to Yugyeom’s lips and instructed him to open his mouth and swallow the water. Yugyeom did as he was told.

“Jinyoung-ssi,” Namjoon said, leaning forwards. “Could you unlock your phone so I can call JB-ssi? Yugyeom-ah probably won’t let go of you, and I figure that I might be able to explain what happened.”

Jinyoung distractedly pulled out his phone and handed it over to the other man. He turned back to Yugyeom, who was still crying. He sat him up and sat down on the couch before setting the boys head on his thigh. He ran his hands through his hair and hummed softly. He stroked his red face with his cold fingers, giving him as much relief as he could.

“Breath, Angel,” he told him, “with me.” He grabbed his hand and brought it to his chest, taking a deep breath in, watching Yugyeom’s chest move in tandem with his. “You’re doing great, Gyeomie,” he praised. “Look at you, doing so well. Breath, baby, you’re doing wonderful.”

Yugyeom coughed again, wincing. He sniffed wetly. 

“Hyungie, it hurts,” he whispered, his right hand desperately grasping at Jinyoung’s shirt. He groaned. “Hyung-” he gasped. His shoulders curled in as he groaned loudly, hand leaving Jinyoung’s shirt and going to grip at his own chest. “I-I ca-aaa-” he cut himself off with a choked gasp, wheezing roughly, the sound leaving his body like it had just ripped up his throat. 

Jinyoung was instantly worried. He moved his hand to the boys forehead, moving the cool washcloth out of the way, and cursed loudly.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” Hoseok asked, moving closer. 

“He’s still burning up,” Jinyoung explain. He looked up at Hoseok, face screwed up with concern and worry. “I don’t.. fuck, I don’t know what to do.”

He moved the washcloth from Yugyeom’s forehead and began to wipe down his face and neck; it was all he could do to try and quiet the distressed boy. 

He was distracted by Namjoon handing him his phone back.

“JB-ssi should get here in a minute. The rest of your team should be with him,” he explained. 

Jinyoung nodded in understanding, thanking him. He wiped off more of Yugyeom’s sweat and tears, and he felt like he was slowly losing focus and control of his emotions. Yugyeom looked like he was in so much pain, and yet Jinyoung could do nothing for him.

“What happened?” Jinyoung murmured, trying to get Yugyeom to focus on one thing. 

Yugyeom opened his mouth to speak, but all he could do was cough. He inhaled, but he was forced to stop and cough. His body shook violently with the painful coughs clawing their way from his chest.

The door swung open and hit the wall with a loud ‘bang’, startling the people in the room into silence, save Yugyeom. 

Jaebum, much like Jungkook, had slammed the door wide open. He winced, but the apology on his tongue was lost when he caught sight of Yugyeom in Jinyoung’s lap. His face fell and he rushed over, gently caressing his maknae’s face, making the maknaes eyes crack open just so.

The rest of Got7 was left standing in the doorway, shocked. 

Jimin and Jin pulled them into the room gently, closing it behind them and making sure they were all okay themselves.

“Jaebummie hyung?” Yugyeom asked, looking confused. He wheezed and tried to breathe deeply. “What-”

“Don’t talk, baby,” he murmured. “Just breath. Focus on taking big breaths for me, okay?” He read the situation quickly when Jinyoung’s face contorted in slight panic when Yugyeom began speaking.

“You we’re doing well, Angel, just keep it up for us,” Jinyoung comforted, wiping at his face.

Yugyeom coughed weakly but nodded and fell silent. 

“Yugyeom, deep breaths, please,” Jaebum requested, but the only response was the boys chest moving up and down as he stared into space.

Only moments later his eyelids fluttered and his eyes rolled back; he went limp in Jinyoung’s lap, pulling concerned gasps from the maknae line of both teams. 

“Kookie, Tae, could you please go find a thermometer so we can check his temperature?” Namjoon asked loudly, snapping the two youngest members of BTS out of their staring contest with Yugyeom’s chest. They nodded and practically sprinted from the room.

“Bammie, Jae, could you two please find manager-hyung?” Mark asked them quietly, pushing them back to the door. The two men were staring at Yugyeom, but when Mark got them out of the room they were running off to solve the problem.

Mark moved towards Jackson and made him sit down in a chair next to the side of the couch. 

“How is he?” Jackson asked Jinyoung quietly. He received a short shake of the head and his hopeful expression dropped from his face.

Jimin stepped forward. He had a fan in his hand and pointed them towards Yugyeom, trying to cool him off. He gave the second one to Jackson, who had simply been staring at his maknae.

Mark took the now-warm washcloth from Yugyeom's head and went to go get it cold, asking Hoseok, Jin, and Yoongi to come with him so they could get new washcloths. 

Mark came back first, squeezing out some extra water onto Yugyeom’s face, causing the boy to flinch and whine softly, eyes fluttering for a moment before he stilled again.

“Gyeomie, are you back with us?” Mark asked quietly, caressing his face.

A whine and a barely-there nod answered him.

The other three men came back into the room and placed the washcloths along the youngest’s body; they laid them on his arms, his neck and throat, and pulled up his shirt so they could put them on his stomach and chest.

Jungkook and Taehyung came back into the room, tripping over each other. They handed Jinyoung a thermometer and he turned it on. He got Yugyeom to open his mouth with a few soothing words and slipped it under his tongue. 

Everyone waited with bated breath for the thermometer to beep.

The noise broke the temporary silence and Jinyoung grabbed it from his boyfriend's mouth. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

“You’re fucking kidding me!” he exclaimed, almost dripping the thermometer in shock.

“What?” Jaebum snapped, snatching the tool from Jinyoung’s hands. “104.8! How the hell did he get a fever this high?” 

“104.8?!” Mark gasped. 

Someone whispered ‘poor baby’ in the background, and it went unnoticed. 

“Oh, Angel,” Jinyoung practically cried, curling over his boyfriend, who groaned loudly.

It was now that Jinyoung really took in the look of his youngest boyfriend; it’s not that Jinyoung couldn’t see it before, but he hadn’t had any time to focus on it. Now, while all they could do was wait for the maknae-line of Got7 to return with their manager, Jinyoung really saw Yugyeom. He was so unusually pale but his cheeks were darkly flushed, he was sweating profusely, his breaths were coming out as wheezes, and he just looked so tired. 

Youngjae came tumbling into the room, BamBam right behind him, and their manager behind him.

“Hyung!” Youngjae shouted, turning heads. “How is he?”

JB turned to their manager who stood a few feet away, taking everything in as fast as he could.

“Manager-hyung, he’s running a fever of 104.8, what are we supposed to do?”

For a moment, their manager seemed conflicted, but he shook his head.

“We have to get him to a hospital. His fever is way too high.”

“But we’re in Japan?” Jackson asked quietly. “We can't leave him to some random hospital outside of Korea. What about our flight tomorrow?”

“We don’t have a choice,” their manager explained. “Of course I’d rather have him at home in Korea, but this is non-negotiable. He needs medical treatment immediately. If his fever has been this high for a while, we can’t do anything and need help.”

“Of course,” JB said, agreeing immediately. “Can someone please call an ambulance?”

He looked around to see Namjoon already on his phone, and instantly he felt this sense of relief and immense thankfulness for the other leader.

It was chaos while they waited for the ambulance to get there. It was chaos when the paramedics got there. It was chaos until Yugyeom was swept away from the room, and Jinyoung with him in the back to ride along.

The five remaining members of Got7 were in a daze, scattered around the quiet room.

“You guys should get going to the hospital,” Namjoon said, helping Jaebum to his feet from where he sat on the couch. “Keep me updated about him, please? I’d like to know when he improves, and Jungkook will be practically inconsolable until then,” he finished, looking to where his own maknae was being comforted by the rest of BTS.

“Of course,” JB nodded. “Thank you so much for finding Yugyeom and helping him. Sincerely, my deepest thanks.”

Namjoon smiled and Got7 shuffled from the room, leaving BTS to themselves.

They followed their manager to the van in silence; Jackson was holding back tears but it was clear he was about to start failing to do so, Mark and Youngjae were trying to hold back tears and not succeeding, BamBam was shell-shocked and clinging to Jackson, and JB felt lost. 

Yugyeom had been in pain, sick, and alone for who knows how long before he had been found. 

JB could only think about how he should never have let the maknae go to the bathroom by himself. 

He should have known better than that.

He should have known.


	5. Chapter 5

The hospital is quiet when they shuffle through the doors and into the lobby. Their manager went up to the receptionist to get Yugyeom’s room number, assuming he wasn’t dead. As that thought went through JB’s head he almost slapped himself.

A few minutes later and their manager is pulling up a map of the hospital on his phone. He leads them into and elevator and through a few corridors before slowing to a stop in front of a room.

“This is the number the receptionist gave me,” he said. As he spoke, a doctor opened the door, startling the six people standing in front of it.

“Oh, are you here for Kim Yugyeom?” the woman asked in Japanese, clipboard in hand.

“Ah, yes, we are,” JB said in stuttered Japanese, snapping out of his momentary stupor.

She opened the door fully to show Yugyeom, lying in a hospital bed with an IV connected to his arm and a breathing mask strapped to his face, head tilted towards Jinyoung. Jinyoung sat in a chair next to his bed, their hands intertwined on the edge of the mattress. The older man was clearly saying something, though if he was trying to soothe himself or Yugyeom, JB would probably never find out.

They filed in, leaving their manager to speak to the doctor as best as possible.

Yugyeom’s eyes were hardly open, but they were cracked just so. He seemed to recognize them if they way his heart rate increased was anything to go by, but he didn’t move from where he was lying.

“Do they know what’s wrong?” Youngjae asked quietly, wiping carelessly at his face, makeup becoming increasingly smeared.

“Yeah. He’s got pneumonia, and it’s pretty bad. The doctor said that it probably started as a cold or just a fever virus or something, and as it went untreated, and as Yugyeomie overextended himself, it became more severe. He had a seizure in the ambulance due to overheating, and apparently one more once he got inside the hospital. They basically had to dunk him in a bath to cool him off, but they couldn’t immediately do an ice bath or it would have shocked his system, so it took a while. They dosed him up with some medicine, I couldn’t understand the name of it, but they also gave him a fever reducer and he’s been really out of it; despite that, he doesn’t want to fall asleep. He was having a lot of difficulty breathing, so they gave him a mask, but it doesn’t seem to have helped much.”

“But-but he’s okay?” BamBam asked at the same time Jackson asked ‘he’ll be okay, right?’.

“He should be okay,” Jinyoung began, “but I’m gonna guess they will want to keep him in the hospital for a while.”

JB made his way over to Yugyeom and ran his hands through the youngest’s hair with extreme caution. The action dragged the youngest’s tired eyes to his form, but besides that he didn’t react, just slowly blinked.

“He apologized a lot to me before they calmed him down. In the ambulance, once they got him conscious, he kept apologizing. Said he didn’t mean to ruin the night, stuff like that,” Jinyoung murmured, drawing whines and sad cries from his members.

“Oh, Yugyeomie,” Mark murmured, now clinging to Jackson so he wouldn’t break his resolve and start crying again. “Why would he apologize?”

Marks question cast everyone into silence. A few minutes passed and BamBam sighed before breaking the silence with his voice.

“I think he’s asleep,” the Thai boy announced, gesturing to Yugyeom’s closed eyes and steady, lowered heart rate.

“Let’s all sit and wait for manager-hyung to tell us what we should do,” JB said, immediately causing the standing members to sit either in empty seats or on the floor next to Yugyeom’s bed.

Their manager came in not five minutes later, expression open as relief colored his face.

“I’m sure Jinyoung told you about his condition,” he began, and the members all nodded. “Good, that’s good. The doctor said that he should be asleep soon, and by the look of him I’m going to assume that he’s already fallen asleep. You guys should head back to the hotel and get some rest. I will put in a request form for a transfer back to Korea, and the doctor I was talking to said that once they got him stable and lowered his fever a bit more, he would be ready to move. She said that, in this case, the request should be either confirmed or denied by tomorrow morning, so that you guys will know if you’re taking your flight.”

The members stayed quiet, waiting for their manager to say more. He hesitated, but began again.

“For now, go to the hotel and pack. Get some sleep, and then you can return here in the morning. Make sure you have clothes on that you would wear to the airport. Once you get here, I will tell you about the transfer request, and if you will be returning to Korea. I will stay here with Yugyeom if you guys do end up taking the flight, and return to Korea when he does,” he finished, watching for any big reactions.

There was silence, then Jaebum spoke.

“That sounds completely fair, and the best we can do right now.” He stood from the floor, joints popping. “Let’s return to the hotel and pack our things; Yugyeom will be sleeping for a while.”

His words easily guided the rest of the members up from their seats and out the door, though BamBam hesitated.

BamBam stopped by Yugyeom, grasping his hand with a carefulness not usually seen in the Thai man. He pushed back the boys hair from his forehead and leaned over to kiss him, avoiding the breathing mask on his mouth. He pulled back, gaze going back and forth from the heart monitor to Yugyeom.

Jackson pulled at BamBam, gently leading him away from their youngest boyfriend, hands so tightly clenched together that their knuckles were turning white.

Their manager shuffled close, sitting down in the seat Jinyoung had been in with a thud. He pulled out the crumpled transfer papers and diligently began to write, Yugyeom’s steady heart as his background.

The boys, on the other hand, simply made their way down to the hospital lobby, an uneasy silence covering them. They returned to the hotel in that complete silence as well, all energy seemingly drained.

They all piled into the elevator, unsure of what to do, when Jaebum finally spoke again.

“Everyone, go to your rooms. Take off your clothes, shower, clean up, put on something comfortable, okay? I’m going to call Namjoon-ssi and update him, and then I will be sleeping. I expect all of you to actually sleep today. I know that we’re all worried. I’m really worried, but he’ll be okay. The doctor isn’t worried that he won’t recover, he’s expecting it to turn out just fine; trust in that expectation. We will see him in the morning, hopefully awake.”

The ding of the elevator making it to their floor stopped him from continuing as they all piled out and headed to their separate rooms.

Jaebum and Mark shuffled towards their room, unlocking the door and sliding in slowly. The sight of Yugyeom’s things, only just disturbed from that morning, made Jaebum’s stomach clench tightly. He swallowed and kneeled down to pack his things up, knowing that he probably wouldn’t be returning to the hotel room.

Mark walked past him and grabbed a change of clothes before getting into the shower. The noise of the water running saved Jaebum from hearing his own quick breaths and stifled sniffs.

He made a point to call Namjoon while Mark was showering, though. It was a quick call, simple to explain that he was sick, but would be fine. Namjoon asked him to say it twice, probably so he could put it on speaker, or at least have Jungkook listen directly from him. The call ended soon after that.

When Mark got out of the shower, Jaebum got in, and eventually they were both situated in one bed, leaving Yugyeom’s untouched.

Jaebum started to drift off in the silence, Mark curled up next to him, when there was a knock on the door.

“Stay,” Mark told him, pushing himself up and shuffling towards the door. He unlocked it and swung it open. In the dim light of the hall, there stood Youngjae and BamBam. Mark easily rocked back, letting them in and shoo-ing them to the bed with JB.

A door down the hallway squeaked open and Jackson’s head popped out. His eyes met Mark’s and Mark nodded, inviting him in. Jackson gave him a grateful smile, head ducking back into his room for a second before he reappeared, a soft-looking Jinyoung passed out in his arms.

“He fell asleep as soon as he got out of the shower, about twenty minutes ago,” Jackson explained as he passed through the door threshold. “I figure he probably doesn’t want to wake up alone.”

“I bet you’re right,” Mark replies quietly. He closed the door, locking it again, and returned to bed.

Jaebum was practically asleep, Youngjae clinging to him, and then BamBam clinging to Youngjae. Jackson set Jinyoung down in Jaebum’s open arms; Jinyoung immediately curled into him, tucking his face into the curve of their leaders neck. Jackson gestured for Mark to curl in behind Jinyoung, and then he climbed in behind Mark. The room fell into complete silence, the only noise being the breathing of the six members.

JB was quick to actually fall asleep, joining the already passed-out Jinyoung. BamBam and Youngjae went right after, and soon Jackson drifted as well. Mark took a little longer, mind racing despite the exhaustion in his body. He eventually closed his eyes and sank into the mattress, letting the weight and comfort of his boyfriends lull him to sleep.

——

Yugyeom woke up slowly. He could hear movement, like the sound of a chair being pulled across the floor, though it stopped pretty quickly. His eyelids felt heavy and his head was hazy, and though he was sure it hadn’t been there moments before, there was something on his right hand.

Yugyeom slowly dragged his eyes open, coming to realize there was a breathing mask strapped to his face and a couple wires to his arms and hands. His open hand, the right one, was loosely interlocked with someone else’s.

He almost groaned softly, but the sound wasn’t quite gutters enough to be a groan. His eyes were still heavy, but now open and trying to take in the scene before him.

BamBam was the one holding on to his hand, his head resting on Yugyeom’s stomach, looking away. Youngjae was laying partially on his hospital bed, head resting on Yugyeom’s calves, talking to BamBam quietly. Jackson was sitting in a chair, Mark in his lap; their chests were pressed together and Mark was tucked into Jackson’s neck, asleep. Jaebum was next to Jackson, the two of them speaking quietly. Jinyoung was in another chair, simply looking at Yugyeom. When their eyes connected, Jinyoung’s face broke into a soft smile.

“Hey, Angel,” Jinyoung murmured, standing from his chair and walking over to Yugyeom. “How are you feeling?”

The sound of Jinyoung’s voice made everyone, save Mark, look to Yugyeom.

Yugyeom, realizing that the breathing mask was going to make it so he couldn’t talk, gave a shrug.

“Better than before?” Jinyoung continued on.

He got a nod for that one.

“That’s good. Do you know where you are?”

Yugyeom looked around, and gave a hesitant nod.

“A hospital, clearly. Do you remember anything of the past few days?”

At that question, Yugyeom’s eyebrows quirked up in confusion. He shook his head.

“We’re back in Korea, kiddo. You got transferred yesterday. The doctors said they gave you some pretty heavy antibiotics, along with a few other things to reduce your fever and whatnot. You’ve been pretty out of it for a while. The good thing, though, is they said that we should be able to take off the oxygen mask when you woke up. You wanna try?”

Yugyeom nodded. Jinyoung reaches forward and pulled the mask off, being careful to not mess with any other wires around him. He set it to the side and turned back to Yugyeom.

“Better?”

“Yeah,” Yugyeom rasped. His voice was almost completely gone.

“We get to take you home today,” BamBam said, excitement clear in his voice.

“Once the doctor checks you, and then if he clears you, then you get to come home,” Jaebum cut in. “Don’t get too excited.”

Yugyeom’s face broke into a sad frown.

“I’m sorry for ruining the stage, and making you guys worry,” he apologized. His voice was weak, but he got the message across. “I meant to tell you, but it was really overwhelming and you were all having so much fun.”

“Don’t talk too much, Gyeomie,” Jackson murmured from where he sat. Mark was awake now, eyes lidded, but clearly listening.

“We’re just glad that you’re alright. We want you to be safe and healthy. You really scared us that night,” BamBam almost whined. “I was terrified. You even managed to scare Jungkook and Namjoon-hyung, and the rest of their group.”

Yugyeom opened his mouth to speak, but Mark’s soft voice cut him off.

“Please let us know, always, when you’re not feeling well. Even if it looks like we’re having fun, even if you think you’ll be a bother; we want to make sure that you are safe and healthy.”

With his group surrounding him, Yugyeom was starting to feel like he wanted to cry. It was almost too much, feeling their care and concern surrounding him like this.

“I’m sorry, hyungs. I just… I wanted everything to be okay, and I didn’t want to worry anybody,” Yugyeom said, a few of his words cutting out due to his throat and missing voice.

“I don’t know about not worrying us,” Youngjae laughed, “but we’re all just fine, as long as you’re okay, too.”

Yugyeom gave them a watery smile. He took a deep breath in, and realized it.

“I really, really, love you guys. So much.”

His members, his boyfriends, surrounded him, peppering his face and hands with little kisses and hugging him tightly.

“You’re precious to us, Yugyeom,” Jinyoung told him, voice solid and resolute. “We don’t want you to ever forget that.”


End file.
